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A popular pizza restaurant is to stop serving pizzas for a week - because the owner is not willing to compromise on quality while his head chef is away.

But instead of closing the doors of Bedford Street eatery Barbarossa, owner Scott Pawson has taken the decision to showcase the talents of his other chefs by putting on a temporary menu while new head chef Ricardo is away.

“Because we care more about quality and customer experience than profit, we’ve decided to take our pizzas off the menu while our head chef is away, and replace it with an exciting temporary menu that showcases the talents of the latest addition to our Barbarossa team, Jean,” said Scott.

“Part of what makes our pizzas so special and unique is also what makes them hard to replicate,” he added.

Barbarossa owner, Scott Pawson, with head chef Ricardo

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“Good pizza chefs like Ricardo are specifically trained in the art of authentic pizza-making, and we’re lucky to have brought him up to Middlesbrough because chefs capable of creating pizzas the authentic way are hard to come by, especially in the North of England.

“Beyond the complexities of our dough recipes, and the lengthy process to get it just right, cooking at 450 to 500 degrees Celsius with wood brings its own set of problems, so it’s not simply a matter of replacing Ricardo with any other pizza chef.

“It took what felt like an age to find the right pizzaiolo who understood what I was trying to create for our patrons, and in his absence, I am not willing to compromise on quality at all.”

Scott said: “We are doing this because we care more about quality than profit. It’s important to me that customers receive consistent quality and love their experience at Barbarossa every time they come.”

Barbarossa, which is introducing blues and jazz nights, is open Wednesday and Thursday, noon until 10pm, Friday and Saturday, noon until midnight, and Sunday 2pm until 8pm.